Monday, 6 June 2011

Last week I gave you all your first ChocolateMission Hotel Chocolat Summer collection review looking at the fantastic Hotel Chocolat Knickbocker Glory Neapolitan Truffles. In the feedback from that review I heard from plenty of readers enquiring whether I would be checking out the new slabs that have been made for 2011. Well ask and you shall receive :D (eventually haha!!). As part of my summer sampling box I was sent the Peepster Summer Collection box (See HERE) which you may have worked out is a product containing mini slabs of the new summer flavours. As you will have gathered from the post title, the first slab to get it's place in the ChocolateMission spotlight is the Lemon Cheesecake flavour.

All of the flavours in this Peepster Summer Selection came in 100.0g slabs that presented the usual Hotel Chocolat conundrum. The presentation of the single slab was gloriously appetising and unique with it's sleek pattern work, however the thickness of it made it incredibly difficult to break into smaller pieces as there were no grooves on the underside to help break it apart. This is a particular bug bare for my mother, who adores Hotel Chocolat chocolate, yet it is often frustrated by this issue. Those gripes aside all of us taking part in the taste test agreed that the chocolate smelt nice with the fragrant dairy and lemon smells enticing one and all.

On the packet this chocolate came billed as 'lemon white chocolate with cocoa cookie pieces and shots of milk chocolate' - a fair proposition for the flavour promised upfront. With full family in close proximity (surprise, surprise!!), we all set upon the 100.0g slab, breaking off mouth sized chunks (with a little difficulty haha!). After a few rounds of tasting it became apparent that this was a chocolate that had created a divide - half liked it, half thought it was 'nothing special'. Unfortunately I sat in the latter camp, and wasn't all that inspired by what I tasted. Personally, I thought that the base white chocolate didn't have the crispness or milky freshness of other Hotel Chocolat white chocolates I had tried previously. I felt the lemon influence, although real tasting in it's fruity delivery, somewhat muffled the white chocolate. Additionally, whilst I enjoyed the integration of the milk chocolate and cocoa cookie pieces to the fold texturally, when it came to the taste I thought a ginger biscuit option would have been more appropriate for the cheesecake theme. Ultimately I thought this was a chocolate not lacking in flavour, but I still didn't get the greatest amount of satisfaction from it.

Overall my description above may sound a little on the negative side, but it is really worth keeping front of mind the alternative view expressed by both my mother and father, both of whom thought this was a tremendous white chocolate. For all the reasons expressed above, I personally thought this was one of the weaker white chocolates I have tasted from them, and I think it could have executed a little better with the suggestions stated. If I had my way I might have possibly of had the score a little lower for this one, though I was told by my fellow taste testers that I was taking the high quality chocolate for granted. Putting some thought in to that I see their point to a degree, however I also see the flip side of the argument which I present to you in the form of the Eton Mess slab (See HERE)! The Eton Mess is similar in proposition (white chocolate with an added fruit!) and I think it is a far superior offering. My conclusion on the matter!??? ... Its just a case of each to their own :D